Zidane: “I didn’t think it was right to bring on Hazard because it was a difficult match”

Real Madrid are finishing the calendar year of 2020 as well as they finished the 2019/20 season. They’ve made it six wins in a row by defeating Granada 2-0 on Wednesday night and Zinedine Zidane is very content with the way his players are performing.

Speaking in a press conference after the match, he said: “We’ve had six hard-fought wins in a row and we’re content with what we’re doing. We’ll have to keep working hard and fighting on the pitch like we’ve been doing. That’s all I ask of the players. But, for now, we have a few days off to rest and see family.”

Zidane admitted that defeats will return at some point, but that he’s happy for his players for the time being. He said: “We’ll lose matches again, but we’ll try to win them all. But, it’s inevitable that it’ll happen sometimes. I’m just happy for the players. They put up with some criticism.”

Asked again about his lack of rotations, he directed the press to his answer from his pre-match press conference: “I’ll say the same thing, it’s a specific thing of right now. But, you can keep asking and I’ll keep answering.”

Finally, Zidane was asked about Eden Hazard, who didn’t even warm up. The coach explained that, with the result in the balance, this wasn’t the right match to re-introduce the Belgian. He explained: “I didn’t think it was right [to bring on Hazard] because it was a difficult match. We need to do such things at the right time. I didn’t want to risk with him again. Now, we rest and little by little he’ll return to the team.”